Hypothesis: Otoacoustic emissions provide an alternative to traditional pur
e tone hearing screening in a diverse grade school population.
Background: Mandated pure tone hearing screening programs for grade school
children have several significant limitations. Otoacoustic emissions have b
een shown to be a reliable screening test in newborns, but there are no dat
a on screening a diverse grade school population.
Methods: Five hundred eighty-three grade school children in four separate s
chool populations were screened for hearing loss using the standard pure to
ne four-frequency protocol and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions. Stud
ents failing either test received a comprehensive audiogram by an audiologi
st that served as thr "gold standard." Sensitivity and specificity of both
tests were compared.
Results: The sensitivity and specificity of pure tone screening was 87% and
80%, respectively, compared with 65% and 91% for transient evoked otoacous
tic emissions.
Conclusion: Pure tone screening was a statistically significant better scre
ening test for detecting hearing loss in this population of ade school chil
dren.